This was a matchup of not only two good teams, but
also the first ever meeting of two great coaches. The Louisville team was athletic
with a balanced offensive attack and good pressing defense. Michigan State was a
deep and tough defensive team with no big name stars. Although Rick Pitino’s Louisville
team was favored to win, Michigan’s states tough play and ability to handle the
press allowed them to pull away in the second half to complete the upset.
On Paper, this Louisville team looked like it should have been able
to handle the Spartans. It was deep and had at least two NBA talents in Terrence
Williams and Earl Clark. The back court was comprised of a 4 man rotation of above
average guards that complemented each other and the Front Court was loaded with
big bodies. Michigan State was a talented team as well, very deep and certainly
above average at most positions. They weren't flashy and they didn't have any big
name stars, but there strengths were teamwork and toughness.

Terrance Williams drives to the basket

The first half was a good back and forth battle that
never saw either team takes a big lead or exert its dominance. The Cards tried to
attack the interior with their big men, but the Spartan defense stopped them cold
which led to a few turnovers. Michigan State’s offense faired little better and
was kept alive by the soft shoot touch of Goran Suton who made several tough shots.
Louisville on the other hand, stayed in the game with some key three point makes
and the strong offensive play or Earl Clark. Although Louisville’s twin centers
Somardo Samuels and Terrence Jennings were stymied by the Spartan defense, Earl
Clark was able work outside and attack the mid range to provide much of Louisville
first half offense.

Earl Clark shoots free throws

For Louisville fans, the close first half was not too
alarming since they had often been behind in the first half only to charge ahead
to start the second period. But there were some ominous developments that were easy
to ignore. Izzo’s team was handling the full court press and they were playing rough
with the cardinals by liberally fouling and applying a physical defense. At halftime,
the Cardinals fans were looking forward to an early second half blitz that they
had become accustomed to, but they would soon be disappointed.The second half started with a burst of defensive
energy by the Cardinals that led to a couple of quick scores. But, Izzo quickly
called a timeout and seemingly defused the blitz because the Spartans would soon
start to take control. One of Louisville’s main strengths all year was causing and
capitalizing off of turnovers, but early in the second half Michigan State would
give them a dose of their own medicine. The Cardinals appeared frustrated by Michigan
States tough man to man defense and gave up several offensive turnovers and rebounds
that led to points on the other end of the floor. The relentless and physical Spartan
defense lead to easy points throughout the second half, while Louisville’s press
caused very little disruption to the Michigan State attack. The depth of the Spartans
prevented them from becoming fatigued and a Louisville run never occurred. The game
was pretty much over midway through the second half.

Travis Walton hits a 3 in the 2nd half

There did appear to be some jitters for the Cardinals
who had lost in last years Regional final to North Carolina. This year they had
vowed to play stronger and get to the final four, but early on, some key players
looked nervous. Terrence Williams had a couple of bad early shots including one
uncharacteristic air ball from 3 point land. Perhaps more influential in the final
outcome of the game was strong play of the Spartans and the Tom Izzo’s game plan.
One of Louisville’s documented weaknesses was in foul shooting percentage and it
appeared as though Izzo was trying to take advantage of that weakness by having
Michigan State foul liberally during Louisville Offensive sets. In the second half,
Louisville couldn’t mount a comeback or run because they were kept off balance offensively
and couldn’t connect on enough free throw attempts to maintain scoring parity with
Michigan State.

In the battle of the Coaches, Izzo wins round one with
a good team performance and a solid game plan. Hopefully, these two coaches will
meet again so we can see who wins round two.